Oct 29, 2009

'Tis the season....no, not for Christmas. Aack! I don't even want to go there yet! The season for cold weather! It's finally getting a chilly around here in California. This morning was the first morning we have woken up with a thin layer of frost on the roof. There go my roses! Drat!Anyhow, in honor of that, I made a "warm weather set". I guess I could have made it with boots, but shoes work better with the type of leggings I make because they have a ruffle at the bottom. Just wear 'em with socks I guess (there's plenty of room).

Here are some other caps currenly available in the shop. And unlike my shoes, I make them in sizes newborn to adults.

Pink fleece with a polka dot posy. Pink fleece with a satin yoyo and pearls posy. And lastly (my favorite for adults), a grey fleece cap with a cream felt flower.This was taken of Ainsley last year in the middle of December. Her cheeks are a little flushed with the cold. The poor thing didn't have really any hair last year, so she wore caps all winter long.She looks as cute as a button though and didn't mind putting her bare legs on that rock. The things I put my children through for a picture. I didn't have my super duper nice camera then, so this was as good as it got with a point and shoot. She was wiggly and it wasn't until after I took as many pictures as she would let me that I realized that I had cut off part of her head in the best photos. Oops! I've gotten better since then....but I digress..... The MAIN point of this post is to let you know that I am holding another giveaway...a cap! And everyone can play since I will make it in whatever size you want. Christmas is coming....it could be a cute gift if you win. Some are obviously for little girls but I have had women order and wear the grey one with the cream felt flower.

Here are the sizes:NewbornInfantToddlerChildTeenAdult

To enter just let me know what size you would pick, which one and who you would give it to (or maybe you would keep it).

Oct 28, 2009

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Morning sickness has kicked me to curb. Do you know how far behind I feel? In my shoe orders from my shop I am about 4 days behind. I did manage to sew four pairs to today and feel rather successful. I am also rather behind in household tasks. Can I just say I HATE folding and putting away laundry. However, if I did it a little more often, it probably wouldn't build up to the point where the clean loads take over my whole bed. Note to self: maybe try doing it more often! Ha!It probably didn't help that during my main "work" time when Hunter is at school and Ainsley is napping, I found this cheerful face asking to get out of bed. This happened a couple of different days this week where she never did actually nap and I ended up giving up after an hour or so. *Sigh* So much for sewing.We did attend a fun halloween party. Somebody, somewhere took a picture of our whole outfit, but alas, it's not on our camera. Tone was the Dread Pirate Roberts and I was Princess Buttercup from the movie, "The Princess Bride". I had the full red dress on with boots, and Tone was in black from head to toe with black pants, a sash, and cuffed boots. We watched the movie a few times to make sure we got their outfits just "so". Call us nerds, but it was totally fun. I ended up having to sew mine because nowhere could I find a dress with a full red skirt. And yes, Tone nursed that stache a full two weeks so he could trim it just like Westley's. We did win best costume though. I believe we won because of the mustache. A note on the bedrooms:Our room is only one in the house that is not finished. It still needs to be painted. We are going for a travel theme since we both travel together so much. The white walls really bug me. Oh well, maybe next spring or summer. Our whole bedroom set was made by Tone. He made the dresser, bedside tables, and headboard. Actually the headboard is a heavyweight canvas shower curtain I found on clearance and he stapled it over a plywood backboard he made. It cost around $30 to make. No one has ever guessed until I tell them.

Ainsley amazingly has never pulled off the netting hanging above her bed or has ever messed with it. She even still has the mobile hanging up and likes to have it turned on when she goes to sleep still. She has never made an attempt to climb out and so for now, we still have her in crib where it's easy to make sure she stays in bed. If only Hunter was that easy.......

Oct 23, 2009

So this little baby is growing up on me....here is Hunter at one week old. We put him in the leaves on a lawn near our house. He was born during "peak week" in upstate New York. Back east, the leaves all change during one week called, "peak week." It couldn't have been more beautiful.And here he is now. This was taken at five years and two days old on his first school field trip to the pumpkin patch. Such a big boy. Actually at birth he wasn't that small either at 9lbs 15 oz. That's 10 pounds of baby folks! It made for some kissable cheeks though. His pants never stay up and you can see all his bones, so I wonder where all that cute chub went? Oh well.For his birthday, he wanted a pirate party. Of course, because that seems to be the "fad" boy party right now. And every year I make a special cake for him. This year I made him a pirate ship. I make it the night before and when they wake up on their birthday, it's waiting for them to see. It's our main birthday tradition. Even daddy helps me with the cake if he's home.

Oct 10, 2009

Children in and out of my house all day (some of them mine, some of them not).....

Toys littering the ground, multiplying just as fast as I pick them up.....

Craft projects all over my kitchen table.....

School papers, which I should as least look at, piled up on my counter.....

Rounds and rounds of pots and pans which get cleaned and magically get immediately dirty again and land back in the sink.....

Ants have decided to invade the house and I have been on the hunt for the last week trying to figure out where these zillions of ants are coming from......

Large shop orders coming in, most with special requests I have to pay attention to, and then madly sew....

A feeling of being so overwhelmed, I listened to my Bible reading from an online site while I sewed. Such a cheater I know........

One big surprise which took me off way off guard......

Travel plans for the year being made and unmade.......

Tone gone most of the week.......

Many long surprise phone calls from family and friends.....

And event I had looked forward to tonight was completely forgotten. I guess I was too busy to remember it...

Watching my son watch "Star Wars" for the first time. Sharing something I used to love as a child with him. He wanted to know why "guy in black breathes funny like he's been exercising or something.".....

God speaking to me in the quiet moments of my heart, when I actually slow down and take a breathe.....

He has richly blessed me. Each friend, child, meal, shop order, and the happy sound of laughter is a blessing.

Thank you Lord for busy weeks. Now next week, can we let it slow down a bit?

Oct 6, 2009

Just a post of my mantel. Very inexpensive. In fact, most of it was bought at the Dollar Tree. The crows, vases, pumpkins, white berry wreaths, black candle stand and apple....all one dollar. My living room is red, pink and green. I can't put orange decor in there or it'll clash! So this is my solution. Shades of neutrals, whites, and black. I made the boo banners out of craft paper, tulle, and ribbon. The ones in the vases are on skewer sticks stuck in spanish moss.

You can see in the mirror that I even have some crows and pumpkins on the shelf on the other side of the room.

This next picture seems to channel a little "Snow White".

What's that? You actually wanted to see a picture of the shelf on the other side of the room? Don't we always love to peer into other people's spaces? Ok, well here ya go. But I hadn't put the crows up yet when I snapped this picture. I had just hung the three botanical fern pictures under the shelf. However, I do now have two crows on the shelf and one perched on the moss in the vase. And yes, (I know you are thinking it), as an English major, I have definately read every single work Edgar Allen Poe published. Hmmm, it's bothering me now that I didn't notice the hanky hanging there was crooked.Here's a little note about my photographing today. I cropped in close so you couldn't see the floor. We had a bunch of friends over yesterday and there are still a lot of toys laying around. I stepped awkwardly around cars and tracks to get these shots.

Happy fall everyone! I couldn't resist a picture of this little guy who has been living on this plant for weeks. He eats the bad bugs, so we let him stay.

Oct 4, 2009

~ Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness. ~ George Bernard Shaw This is Tom. He is the child we support through WorldHelp. He lives in Uganda. He was one of hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled from villages to refugee camps. In the camps there is little water and no toilets or sanitation. Twenty thousand children have been abducted to be child soldiers in the Lord's Resistance Army. Many others are exploited and subjected to abuse while in the camps. He lives there because his father was killed in an ambush. His mother fled their village with her four children. Because he and his siblings are sponsored, they go to school and have been able to move out of the camp this year.

Why do I write about Tom? Today at church they asked what was it that our heart was broken over. What burdens has God placed on your heart, and then, what are you doing about it?

Usually, my blog is about pretty things. Pretty pictures, my smiling children, craft projects, and little musings. And while I will probably go back to writing those pretty things tomorrow, today's post is not so pretty. However, I cannot turn a blind eye to stark reality. So I write about Tom. I write about what ten percent of my shop proceeds go to, and I write about my city, Fresno.

Have you heard of Blood:Water Mission? They are commited to clean blood and water in Africa. Combatting the HIV pandemic often begins with clean water. I send ten percent of my shop proceeds to them. One dollar gives one African clean water for a year. In seven years, 617 wells have been dug in 11 countries, and clean water has been delivered along with hygiene and sanitation training to 460,000 Africans. Such wonderful dedication makes me want to be a small part of making it happen. My heart is broken over poverty. But mostly the way it affects families, and especially children who will grow up to repeat the cycle should nothing be done.

We heard some startling statistics today about our city, Fresno. While I live in affluent sunny California, and am solidly middle class with some leisure money to spare, I live in one of the most poverty striken cities. And the "ghetto" area street line is only a few blocks from my house. Let me give you some statistics (I know. I google searched it for myself). In my city, we are #4 in the top ten cities in the United States for total poverty according to the US census bureau. Number 1 for concentrated poverty. Poverty in a concentrated area. Which makes sense because we are actually OVER the national average for those who have a college education. You know what that tells me and what I clearly see around me everyday? There is a great dividing line between those who have and have not in Fresno. There is a stark difference between the affluent streets, and the poorest streets.

So what have I done about it? Not enough I am afraid. Last week I was startled to have a CHILD come up to me at the McDonald's near my house and ask for money for food. I watched him stand near the counter for a long time just watching the people order. He didn't make eye contact with anyone. He chose to approach me. After chatting with him (he was reluctant) I found out he was in 6th grade, lived in the apartments behind the shopping center, his 8th grade brother was watching him, and they didn't have food. I fed him. I was rewarded with a bright smile from both brothers as I left.

Poverty also affects the elderly. They're forgotten. These are patients at a convalescent home just five minutes from my house. Nobody visits.

I have to chuckle everytime I see this photo of Albert. I LOVE the whip cream on the oxygen tubeI often visit a local convalescent home. It was in bad need of paint, landscaping, and love. The patients needed visits. There was not enough money coming in from the state and the home was barely getting by. Our church has painted it inside and out, and landscaped the yard. I visit once a month with my children to do an activity and I also make birthday visits. It still seems so little. Some of the patients don't talk. Many are incoherent. Some love to talk. Some love to hold the children and take them down the halls in their wheelchairs. Some eat the paint on craft day. It's always an interesting experience when I visit. Two friends now go with me and help love on them. It's tempting to think, "what difference does it make?" Do they even remember me? That one just stared at the wall or yelled the whole time. But no one else is visiting them. The staff is dedicated, but I think we bring a lift to them as well. And some patients become favorites and their bodies house the most beautiful souls I have every met. So sweet and endearing. I believe personally, that no one outside the home will ever care whether we are there or not. It's not a very "grand" or "flashy" ministry that's for sure. It feels like it's a very small thing. But I love doing it. I believe loving them is loving "the least of these" that Jesus talked about. They are the forgotten...affected by poverty.

So that's what little I am doing. What are you doing? Let me know. I love to know how others have been burdened with a problem that grieves the heart of God and then DO something about it. I hope what I write encourages you, and that what YOU do encourage others also.